Sugrue South Downs dreams on

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 16 March, 2026

Twenty years after winemaker Dermot Sugrue planted his first Storrington Priory vines for what was to become Sugrue South Downs, this Sussex-rooted producer continues to forge ahead with much in the pipeline for 2026.

A limited-edition magnum of The Trouble with Dreams 2020 – the flagship fizz of Sugrue’s artisanal scale portfolio – is to be released towards the end of the year, underscoring several developments at the winery. And a new Never Mind the Gamay still red blend of Gamay and Meunier will also be ready this summer, produced from a vineyard at The Pig hotel in the South Downs.

A bigger possible development, though, is earmarked for the winery itself, with owners Dermot and Ana Sugrue planning a ‘modular events space’, potentially drawing on The Pig hotels’ operator Robin Hutson’s hospitality expertise. This would allow the winery to build on its roster of events with a dedicated space for tastings and private dinners.

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Sugrue South Downs has already established a reputation for hosting celebrity chef pop up lunches, with a residency by Mark Hix being the most recent in a line of similarly high-profile names to grace the winery. However, the Sugrues are now looking to create a dedicated space at the winery, to allow for greater tasting room and flexibility.

“Our pop up lunches are sold out for the year, but we still close for three months of the year, because the focus is on winemaking and we want to retain a small winemaking feel,” marketing director Callum Edge told team Harpers on a recent visit to the estate. “Viticulture and winemaking will always come first at Sugrue South Downs.”

Edge also revealed that the winery was planning a ‘Judgement of Essex’, “riffing on the famous Judgement of Paris tasting”, with a nod to the growing excellence of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from that county’s Crouch Valley, where Dermot Sugrue is also making wines.

“We are trying to be really geeky about everything and appeal to real wine lovers,” said Edge, talking of the Sugrue South Downs ethos.

“The worst thing about the wine industry at quite a fractious time is to be too serious, so we want to keep a sense of fun in what we do, even though we are on the geekier end of wine’s appeal.”

With the winery looking to turn to an allocation model for certain wines, and news that Cuvée Dr Brendan O'Regan 2018 is to be poured on BA first class on St Patrick’s Day this year (Dermot Sugrue is Irish by birth), the approach certainly appears to be working, with Sugrue South Downs having gained something of a cult following for its invariably excellent sparkling and still wines.

Moreover, this is one of few English wineries of note that has actually turned a profit, which is news in itself as the domestic industry continues to find its path forward.

Pictured: Team Harpers tasting with Callum Edge in the cellar

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